Few gadgets in history have ever had such a soap opera-worthy introduction to the world like the iPhone 4. Leaked to the public early thanks to a slip up by an Apple engineer and the debatable motives of a fellow bar customer, its body style, inner components and some new features may be old news to many at this point. However, there were still plenty of new features kept under wraps until June 7th’s big announcement.

Click the thumb for an iPhone 4 video.

Touted as the thinnest smartphone on the planet, the iPhone 4 represents a significant improvement over the iPhone 3G S that should inspire drooling from early adopters and Apple's rabid fan base. However, on specs alone, it still faces strong competition from other state-of-the-art handsets like the EVO 4G or the Droid Incredible for the title of most advanced smartphone.

Physically, the latest iPhone has been likened to an old Leica camera by Steve Jobs and features a flat body comprised of so-called aluminosilicate glass that has been chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic. Its outer edges are wrapped in a stainless steel band that doubles as an antenna system for the phone.

Apple has also introduced some new terminology to describe the device's vastly improved screen. Marketed as a "Retina Display," this 3.5-inch, 960 x 640 pixel backlit LCD is the highest-resolution phone screen ever made and features specialized pixels that are too small for even the human eye to distinguish. When combined with IPS technology for top-of-the-line color reproduction, the iPhone 4 will wow users with vivid colors and incredible text clarity.

Other big hardware upgrades include the iPad's A4 processor, 802.11n band Wi-Fi for faster connection to the internet, and a front-facing video camera. Its rear-facing camera has also been upgraded to 5 megapixels with 5x digital zoom, LED flash and a "backside illuminated sensor," which now can also record 720p HD video at 30 fps.

Last but not least, a new three-axis gyro has been integrated to work with the previously included accelerometer and compass, which will undoubtedly come into play in future apps to provide users with greater motion controlled interactions.

Putting its advanced screen and body aside, from a hardware perspective the iPhone 4 is certainly equipped to compete with or match most of the cutting-edge smartphones on the market today. Similarly, with the release of iPhone OS 4, Apple will fix many of the areas, like multitasking, where the iPhone previously lagged behind other mobile operating systems.

The inclusion of a front-facing camera also clearly signifies that Apple's vision of the iPhone and its usage by consumers is certainly future reaching. However, more than ever before, the limitations Apple faces with its carrier decision in the U.S. seems to be rearing its ugly head.

The most obvious example of this relates to video chatting. Though the device now features the required hardware and a new application called FaceTime to easily initiate video chatting, this feature will only be usable over Wi-Fi by consumers for the first year, presumably to give AT&T some breathing room to improve its network to handle this data intensive task.

Similarly, though it's less of a direct example, the iPhone 4's lack of compatibility with 4G networks puts a serious damper on the phone's long-term competitiveness in the rapidly advancing world of smartphones.

To AT&T's defense, no other American carrier has been asked to prove the quality of its network under the significant burden of the iPhone and its data-inhaling users. However, given the current state of mobile affairs, the iPhone's continued ability to impress users will rely increasingly on providing consumers with fast reliable connection to a growing cloud of web-based services.

Will the iPhone 4 be competitive over the next year until the next generation is announced? Yes. But competition is fierce and iPhone's reign as the king of smartphones is no longer a sure thing. What’s also not a sure thing is its interdependence of the carriers it chooses to work with.